The Real Reason Seinfeld Killed Off George's Fiancee Susan

You don't even have to be a diehard Seinfeld fan to know how George's fiancee Susan died in season seven: Licking the toxic glue on the cheap wedding envelopes George had purchased. But what wasn't clear, even in the decade since, is why Susan (played by actress Heidi Swedberg) was killed off the show so abruptly—and randomly. Luckily, Jason Alexander set the record straight on Howard Stern yesterday. First things first, it wasn't due to any sort of feud or disagreement with Swedberg. "I love her. She's a terrific girl," Alexander said. The real issue was their comedic timing. "I couldn't figure out how to play off of her," he told Stern. "Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine, were always misfiring. And she would do something and I would go, OK, I see what she's gonna do, I'm gonna adjust to her. And then I would adjust. And then it would change!" Their chemistry was so off on-screen that Alexander didn't even see the engagement coming. "I had done three episodes with her, and Larry calls me up at the beginning of the season and says, 'Good news! I got a great arc for

You don't even have to be a diehard Seinfeld fan to know how George's fiancee Susan died in season seven: Licking the toxic glue on the cheap wedding envelopes George had purchased. But what wasn't clear, even in the decade since, is why Susan (played by actress Heidi Swedberg) was killed off the show so abruptly—and randomly. Luckily, Jason Alexander set the record straight on Howard Stern yesterday.

First things first, it wasn't due to any sort of feud or disagreement with Swedberg. "I love her. She's a terrific girl," Alexander said. The real issue was their comedic timing. "I couldn't figure out how to play off of her," he told Stern. "Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine, were always misfiring. And she would do something and I would go, OK, I see what she's gonna do, I'm gonna adjust to her. And then I would adjust. And then it would change!"

Their chemistry was so off on-screen that Alexander didn't even see the engagement coming. "I had done three episodes with her, and Larry calls me up at the beginning of the season and says, 'Good news! I got a great arc for you this season. You're gonna get engaged!'" he told Stern. "I said, 'Oh it's great, who do I get engaged to?' He said, 'Susan.' And I went, 'Oh great, who's playing George?' Because it was such a disaster."

But the engagement just made it worse for the pair on the show. "I kept saying, 'I'm going out of my mind, you guys, you're killing me. I can't understand how to play off of this girl,'" Alexander said. "I was the only actor doing scenes with her. And then finally—they didn't know how the season was gonna end. Was George gonna marry her? Was she gonna leave him? What was gonna happen? So finally they do an episode where Elaine and Jerry have a lot of material with her. They do the week...and they go, 'You know what? It's fucking impossible. It's impossible.'

So there you have it! Do you agree with Alexander—that their chemistry just wasn't working? Or did you like Susan? If you can't decide, you can rewatch all their episodes when Seinfeld hits Hulu on June 24.